WAR IN UKAINE: April 17, 2022
Graves in a cleared out area in the town of Bucha. As many as 900 people are believed to have been killed by Russian forces in the region in the past weeks; there are many reports of rape, torture, bodies burned and other atrocities which clearly rank as war crimes. Photo: Andrij Kravchenko
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 53
The Kyiv suburb of Brovary was hit by rockets this morning, says mayor Ihor Sapozhko. He said on his Telegram channel that infrastructure was damaged, including power and water supply. He pleaded for calm and said services to be restored as soon as possible. Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Russian armed forces destroyed an ammunition factory near Kyiv, according to Reuters.
Russia has demanded Ukrainian forces still fighting to defend the besieged city of Mariupol lay down their weapons. Russian state media Ria reported that "without exception" all "Ukrainian armed units and foreign mercenaries" must exit from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Moscow time (same as local time) "without any weapons and ammunition," citing the Russian Defense Ministry. An estimated 100,000 people remain in Mariupol and its immediate surroundings, which are reported to be largely under Russian control, with Ukrainian troops confined to pockets of resistance. President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the situation in the besieged port city of Mariupol and call it “inhuman.” - CNN.
As of midday Sunday, Kyiv said no ceasefire has been agreed to in Mariupol and that an evacuation corridor has been requested to facilitate the evacuation of civilians to government-controlled areas.
US officials are concerned that at the rate Ukraine is using munitions it may not have enough to withstand the coming Russian attacks in eastern and southern Ukraine. The officials estimate that Ukraine is using close to 1,000 artillery shells a day.
The Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko, announced that curfew times are changing in Kyiv and the area. Starting today, April 17, the curfew will begin an hour later and end an hour earlier - from 22:00 to 5:00 am.
Russian forces were continuing to redeploy combat and support equipment from Belarus towards eastern Ukraine, including to locations close to Kharkiv and Severodonetsk, Britain’s Defense Ministry of Defense said on its regular bulletin on April 17.
